Wales

Welsh Preserved Counties. Click on any blue name for the article about the county. Note that the boundary between Gwynedd and Clwyd differs from the pre-1996 county boundary.

England

West
Glamorgan

Dyfed

Powys

Clwyd

Gwynedd

Gwent

Mid
Glamorgan

South
Glamorgan

Wales (Welsh: Cymru) is one of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom, and sometimes referred to as a Principality, although the Welsh Assembly Government say this is not correct.

The Anglo-Saxon invasions that led the the emergence of England did not penetrate into Wales, which therefore remained independent, different parts being ruled by different kings (including Maelgwn, King of Gwynedd) and princes.

King Edward I, having conquered Wales, is said to have offered the people of Wales a prince who spoke no English, and fulfilled this promise by presenting to them at Caernarfon his son, the future Edward II, who was still a baby. Since then the title "Prince of Wales" has been regularly granted to the eldest son of the monarch.

For most purposes, England and Wales have been treated as a single unit in legislation.

Develution for Wales was rejected in a referendum in 1979 but approved in a second referendum in 1997. This led to the Government of Wales Act 1998, steered through Parliament by Welsh Secretary Ron Davies. As a result of the Act, Wales now has its own Assembly, although its powers are less than those of the Scottish Parliament.